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“Damn it, Lizzie,” Cash yelled, and I heard a gun go off, louder than I could have imagined, and Cash screamed, and I looked up to see him holding his arm, blood pouring down his sleeve.
CHAPTER 64
As I’d entered the room, I’d wanted to shoot him in the head as I was trained to do in these situations, but he was holding Liz and Peri too close. Even if I managed to hit him and not Liz or Peri, there would have been splatter, and Peri would have to live with that. A man’s head exploding just inches away was not good for a child’s psyche.
It would have been great for mine.
Then Liz stomped on his foot and jammed her fingers at his eyes, and when he screamed and pulled back, she fell into the big chair with Peri, and I shot him in the arm, the one farthest away from them, the one trying to pull a gun from his jacket.
The bullet must have been a through and through, muscle only, because if that big .45 slug had hit bone, he’d have been spun about and the bone shattered. As it was, he was so coked up, he seemed to barely notice the wound. He even finished reaching into his coat and using his wounded arm to pull out his gun, but he was unable to lift it because of the muscle damage.
He looked at me, blinking, trying to process what had just happened and figure out why his arm wouldn’t work quite right.
“Step away from them,” I said, “or the next bullet goes in your head.”
Cash straightened, staring at us, wild-eyed. I could see that Liz wanted to make a run for it, but she was trapped in that big chair, twisted in it to keep herself between Peri and Cash.
I sensed others coming into the room behind me but kept my focus on Cash. I should kill him since he’d drawn his gun, but the kid was right there.
“Mac’s here,” Liz whispered to Peri. “Vince is here. Peri, it’s going to be okay.”
Peri lifted her face from Liz’s shoulder, her eyes huge, and she looked at me and then past me, at Mac. Then she took a deep shuddering breath and nodded.
“And there’s my buddy,” Cash was saying, trying out a manic smile. “Mac, get rid of the cop, will you? Lizzie and I—”
“There is no Liz and you,” Mac said. “And there’s no you and me, either. Put the gun down and come with us.” His voice softened a little. “We’ll get you help, Cash. We’ll—”
“I don’t need help,” he yelled.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Will and Ken come in and flank us, and Cash was facing his best friend, his brothers, and the enemy who’d stolen his girl.
He had nobody.
I took a step forward and to the right so my line of fire was farther from Liz and Peri in the chair.
“Vince?” Mac whispered.
Liz was staring at me, her eyes almost as wide as Peri’s as she saw the look on my face.
The gun in Cash’s hand was twitching but still pointing straight down. I didn’t think it was going to stay like that because he’d realize what was wrong eventually and he had another arm and hand.
I centered the white dot on my front sight in the middle of his face.
And he lunged for Peri, like Liz wasn’t right there.
Liz screamed and launched herself at him, springing out of the chair and shoving him away from Peri, socking him on the jaw with her fist and then pushing him again, too close for me to fire, and she punched him again, great jabs like a pro, and he stepped back to get away from her and . . . then Cash was gone, backwards out the open window, screaming.
Liz turned and looked at me, shocked, either at what Cash had just done or what she had just done, and then she turned to Peri, still in the chair, not cowering any more.
“He’s gone,” she told the little girl.
Peri nodded and got to her feet, and then she threw her arms around Liz’s knees and said, “I knew you’d save me.”
And Liz turned and looked at me as she picked up Peri. “I know how that feels,” she said, meeting my eyes, and then she mouthed,Thank you.
I walked over and wrapped my arms around Liz and Peri, my mouth near Liz’s ear, and whispered, “Thank you.”
A WEEK LATER
